Take Up Your Cross

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.'" (Matthew 16:24a)


Yesterday's Gospel, an invitation to follow Jesus, was another part of Fr. Joepel's talk during the HAPAC Retreat in August. He cited three instances that measured our success as true followers of Christ:

There are too many instances of Catholic parents who sent their children to Catholic schools throughout Elementary and High School, sometimes even College; who went to Mass with their children every Sunday, received the Sacraments, and prayed with them every night; but as adults, their children don’t even go to Mass. Where did we fail as parents?

Many politicians and businessmen were educated in Catholic schools, and yet our society is filled with corruption. Where did Catholic Education fail?

Priests and nuns came from good Christian families, but in the Catholic Church, we’ve had scandals. Where did Christian families fail?


It was such a compelling introduction; I couldn't help but hang on to every word. I wanted to pinpoint what it was that we've been doing as parents and educators that has been causing the
system breakdown, so to speak. It was one of those retreats that just made me wish all of my family and friends were there.

Fr. Joepel continued:

You have a responsibility to pass on the light of Christ in its full brightness. In order to receive dividends for life (Catholic Schools' theme for school year 2009-2010), we must make the transformation...

from being religious to being spiritual

from having faith to having fidelity

from complacency to conviction

from being a sinner to being a saint.


It took my breath away!

That was it! The formula for a fail-proof system.

However, "fail-proof" and "humans" simply do not go together. Or so I thought. That's when Fr. Joepel shared the words that sparked more hope in me:

Indeed, perfection is possible. To love truly... To forgive when it's difficult to do so... To give up your time (volunteer) without asking for anything in return... then you have reached perfection.

To follow Christ is not easy. His call for us to be perfect just as our Heavenly Father is perfect, is not easy. Yet I am more hopeful than ever that it is possible.

And as I've always believed, it all starts with ourselves... with our homes... with our own communities. Transformation begins with us, and it should start now. For if children are indeed "the messages we send to a time we will not see," I certainly pray that one message will stand out from us until the end of time:

Keep the light of Christ burning bright!


Dear Lord, I pray for all parents - that You may give us the grace to rise up to the challenges of parenthood. Give us the strength to take up our cross, to serve You by serving our family and community. That through loving service, we may surmount the enormous task of passing on Your light in its full brightness to all the generations yet to come. Amen.